The show originally aired on Tuesdays in prime time after sister series Full House (which
was also created by Jeff Franklin and set in the San Francisco Bay
area). The show found its niche as an addition to the already
successful TGIF Friday
night lineup on ABC, and was part of the lineup from September 1993
to May 1996 (spanning the show's second, third and fourth seasons;
airing in-between Step By
Step and the newsmagazine 20/20), before moving to Saturdays for its fifth
(and last) season.

Contents

Premise

The series, set in Oakland, California (Mark Curry's hometown),
centers on NBA player-turned-substitute teacher/gym coach (and
later basketball coach) Mark Cooper. Mark is a "somewhat suave"
single guy with a zany personality; he always gets a few laughs
from his friends. Mark's childhood friend Robin Dumars (Dawnn Lewis) and
Robin's other best friend Vanessa Russell (Holly
Robinson) live in a rented house that they cannot afford
without an additional roommate. Though the events just prior to
Mark's moving in are never shown, he agreed to move in with Robin
and Vanessa. His "bedroom" is the den near the living room; Robin
and Vanessa occupy the only bedrooms in the house. Although living
with women may not be easy at times, Mark does appreciate them.
They often teach him a thing or two when he gets in over his
head.

Early episodes of the series featured references by Robin of
Mark possibly having a crush on Vanessa, though that was mostly
deemphasized. Near the end of season four, he and Vanessa became a
couple. Almost as quickly as they started dating, they became
engaged. Midway through the first season, Tyler Foster (Marquise
Wilson) was introduced as Mark's annoying neighbor kid; he
would become a regular character starting in season two. By the
second season, Robin was phased out after Lewis' departure. Mark's
two cousins from Georgia, Geneva Lee (Saundra Quarterman) and her daughter
Nicole (Raven-Symoné) moved into the house. Tyler
quickly became the best friend of Nicole.

Cast

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Main cast

Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) - former NBA
player for the Golden State Warriors turned high school teacher and
P.E. teacher for Oakbridge High; later became interim head coach
for the Oakbridge boy's basketball team, but was originally passed
over for permanent coach after being offered the job by P.J. Moore
in season 3, but would become assistant coach to new head coach
Chet Corley, but would later get the permanent position after
Corley leaves; later begins dating (and then almost immediately
engaged to) roommate Vanessa Russell by the end of season four,
though there are hints in season one that he is interested in
her

Vanessa Russell (Holly Robinson Peete) -
Mark's roommate, who originally worked for the firm Toplyn and
Toplyn, and then worked various odd jobs after quitting her job,
before settling on working as a Emergency Medical Technician (which
she would later be laid off from); was the daughter of rich
parents, who later cut her off from her trust fund due to her
extravagant spending; would later date Mark (after he successfully
conspired to break up her latest relationship due to his jealousies
over her boyfriend) and then be engaged to him by the end of season
four

Robin Dumars (Dawnn Lewis) - Mark's best friend
since childhood, who comes up with the idea to have Mark move in
with her and Vanessa in order to pay the rent; worked as a music
teacher and often moonlighted as a tutor to neighborhood kids
(Season 1)

Pamela Jane "P.J." Moore (Nell Carter) - Principal of
Oakbridge High during seasons two and three, who was Mark's
sister's best friend and his babysitter as a young kid; though it
seemed to Mark that P.J. was tough on him, it was revealed later in
season three that she was tough on him because she saw optimism
that he can be a great teacher (Seasons 2-3)

Geneva Lee (Saundra Quarterman) -
Mark's cousin from Georgia, who (with her daughter Nicole) moves in
with Mark and Vanessa; seemed out of place in California in early
episodes; worked as a music teacher and then principal at Oakbridge
High (Seasons 2-5)

Tyler Foster (Marquise Wilson) - Mark's
next-door neighbor, who Mark saw as an annoyance in the first two
seasons, and saw as a little brother in later episodes; was best
friends with Nicole Lee after she is introduced; he had a crush on
Vanessa, which was referenced to several times, but also was
briefly infatuated with Geneva (Seasons 2-5; recurring Season
1)

Earvin Rodman (Omar Gooding) - One of Mark's
students and player on the Oakbridge Penguins boys basketball team;
was not a stellar student, but managed to graduate high school; was
briefly married to his high school sweetheart; worked as a security
guard after graduating high school (Seasons 4-5; recurring Seasons
1-3)

Recurring
cast

Coach Ricketts (Roger E. Mosley) - Coach of
the Oakbridge Penguins boys basketball team; once served in the
Army (Season 1)

Issac (George Lemore) - One of Mark's students
in his P.E. class (Season 1)

Andre Bailis (Christopher Carter) - One of
Mark's students and player on the Oakbridge Penguins boys
basketball team (Seasons 1-2)

Bennie (Don
Cheadle) - One of Mark's friends, who was not very
bright; had a crush on Vanessa (Season 2; appeared in one Season 3
episode portrayed by Ruben Paul)

Chet Corley (Ron Canada) - Was briefly named
head coach of Oakbridge High boy's basketball team after Mark
forfeits the position due to not returning P.J.'s calls about the
offer; he leaves to coach a college team and names Mark as his
replacement (Season 3)

Eric Thompson (Kristoff St. John) - A
doctor, who Vanessa dated during season three but briefly broke up
with after finding out he worked at a free clinic, though would get
back together with after realizing that her materialisticness
should not get in the way; would later be engaged to Vanessa and
the two would move to New Guinea, but Vanessa would break off their
engagement and return to Oakland (Season 3; guest star in Season
4)

Steve Warner (Steve White) - One of
Mark's friends, who Mark was roommates with in college; worked as a
sportswriter for a local newspaper (Season 3)

Ken Anderson (Kevin Jackson) - Geneva's first
long-term serious boyfriend since her divorce; was a member of the
Army Reserve, but also had a penchant for baking; would propose to
Geneva in season five, but both ultimately decided to slow things
down (Seasons 3-4; guest star in Season 5)

Miss Simpson (Lorraine Fields) - Worked as one
of the teachers at Oakbridge High (Seasons 3-4)

Mr. Morley (Kelly Perine) - Worked as one of
the teachers at Oakbridge High (Season 4)

Miss Cosgrove (Gloria Gifford) - Worked as one
of the teachers at Oakbridge High (Season 4)

Lydell (Lewis Dix) - One of Mark's friends;
would later marry his girlfriend Florence after only 13 weeks of
dating (Seasons 4-5)

Synopsis

Season 1

In the first season, the characters were Mark Cooper, Vanessa
Russell, and Robin Dumars. They all lived as roommates in a house
that was rented by Mark, Vanessa and Robin. In the pilot episode,
Mark got a job as a substitute teacher for a high school science
class. Later in the season, he got a job teaching physical
education which was what he wanted to teach. Mark was also a basketball coach for the
school's team. Robin was a music teacher at the same high school.
In the middle of the season, the original landlord died and the
house was purchased by the parents of Tyler Foster (who were Mark's
neighbors). After purchasing the house, Tyler's father told Mark,
Vanessa, and Robin that they were allowed to stay in the house for
1 month. After Tyler told his parents that he liked the trio, they
decided to let them stay permanently.

Seasons 2
through 4

The show moved to Friday nights in the second season as part of
the TGIF block. It
also was remodeled into more of a family-oriented show, instead of
an adult oriented show, as in the first season. In the second
season premiere, Tyler mentioned that Mark had purchased the house
from his parents. Also in the second season premiere, Mark's
cousin, Geneva Lee, and her daughter, Nicole Lee, moved in with
Mark and Vanessa. Robin was no longer living with Mark and Vanessa.
Geneva took over teaching music at Mark's school. Around the time
Geneva and Nicole joined the show, Mark's school welcomed a new
principal, P.J. Moore (played by Nell Carter), who was Mark's babysitter
when he was a child. She was replaced in Season 4 by Geneva.

In 1996, Mark proposed to Vanessa in the episode "Will She or
Won't She". This episode was a cliffhangerseason finale that was aired on May 10,
1996. The following season premiere episode ("The Ring")
was not aired until June 21, 1997, more than a year later. Vanessa
accepted Mark's proposal in this episode. "The Ring" is the first
episode of the fifth and last season of the series.

The final
season

The last season was 13 episodes long, half the length of most
television seasons, and was aired in the summer, when most
television shows are in reruns. In addition, this season was aired
on Saturday nights—a move away from its traditional Friday night
slot on TGIF.

The series
finale ("Getting Personal") was aired August 30, 1997. In this
episode, Vanessa wrote a personal ad in the newspaper, and wanted
Mark to figure out which ad was hers, and to answer it. Mark
decided to answer all ads in the paper, tell everyone to look for
the man with the rose, and then
not wear a rose. Mark figured that Vanessa would be happy enough
that Mark answered her ad, and would not worry about the rose, and
that the other women would not get mad at him because, without a
rose, they would not know that Mark is the one who answered their
ads. Earvin knew about Mark's plan, and decided to go to the
restaurant with the rose, so that he could get a date with 1 of the
women whose ad Mark had answered. Vanessa and the other women
figured out that the same man had answered all their ads. They
decided that the man with the rose would be the dead man with the
rose. When Earvin showed up, they all got mad at him, thinking he
was the one who answered their ads. The finale ended with a goodbye
from the cast.

While the series finale was viewed in its entirety on ABC
affiliates in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones, ABC
pre-empted the episode on the West Coast, 5 minutes in, to break
the news of the death of Princess Diana, and
the finale was never re-run on ABC. Other than several complaints
from viewers on the West Coast, there was little, if any,
controversy, as this episode generally had low ratings, and aired
on a Saturday. However, the episode aired in syndication.

ABC actually intended to bring back Hangin' with Mr.
Cooper and Step By Step to TGIF for
the 1996-97 season as midseason replacements if freshmen series
Sabrina the Teenage
Witch and/or Clueless were cancelled
(Clueless was cancelled by February and was replaced by
Step by Step by March, Clueless was picked up by
UPN the next season; while
Sabrina lasted four seasons on ABC, before being picked up
by The WB in 2000, where it spent its last three seasons).

The wedding of Mark and Vanessa would have most likely been the
sixth season premiere episode had the show been renewed after
season five, as Mark Curry reportedly wanted the wedding to begin a
new season, not be a series finale. Hangin' with Mr.
Cooper was the only TGIF show that ABC cancelled after the
1996-97 season (Step by Step and Family
Matters were the only others) that was not picked up by
CBS when that network attempted a TGIF-style comedy lineup on
Fridays called "The CBS Block Party". On Robinson's TV series
For Your Love, Curry
returns to his longtime castmate Holly Robinson Peete where
Robinson plays Malena Ellis where she gets pregnant on the episode
titled "The Pregnant Pause" which aired April 28, 2000 on the
fellow Warner Bros. Television
series.

Production

The series was created by Jeff Franklin (who also created
one-time lead-in Full House in 1987, of whose cast John Stamos, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
made a guest appearance in HWMC's second episode), the series was
originally executive produced by Franklin, and became produced by
William Bickley and Michael Warren (who created the popular ABC
sitcoms Family Matters and Step by Step, which
moved to CBS in 1997), by the third season.

It is also the only videotaped sitcom produced by Bickley-Warren
Productions (all other Bickley-Warren-produced comedies, all of
which, except for Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and the
short-lived WB sitcom Kirk, were produced in
conjunction with Miller-Boyett Productions,
were shot on film), and is one of only two series executive
produced and/or created by Bickley and/or Warren, that Thomas L.
Miller and Robert L. Boyett did not executive produce.

Episodes

Theme song and opening
sequences

The show had three different theme songs throughout its run. The
first season's theme song was performed by Dawnn Lewis, Holly
Robinson, and the R&B quartet En Vogue, and was written by Denzil Foster and
Thomas McElroy. Lewis and Robinson perform most of the theme, while
En Vogue sings "Cooper" in the chorus. This sequence was styled
similarly to a music video. This was the only opening title
sequence during the show's to feature two different versions. The
version used in most episodes lasted only 32 seconds. However, a
couple of episodes used a minute-long version which included an
extra stanza that was not included in the short version.

R&B male crooner and Shalamar lead singer Howard Hewett sang the second season
theme, which was a remake of Sam & Dave's R&B Top 10 hit "Soul Man". This
version was produced by singer Steve Tyrell, who also composed the
scene change music used during season two. The opening sequence
accompanying the theme during this season featured Mark, Geneva,
Nicole and Vanessa in the kitchen getting ready to go to work and
school.

Soul singer James Brown would go on to help sing the third
season theme, which became the main theme song until the series
ended. This theme was written by Gary Boren and Steven Chesne, who
also composed the music cues to signify scene changes and
commercial breaks during the last three seasons. The sequence,
created by graphic design firm Creative Tool, featured shots of
various places in Oakland in static and regular form with
posterized shots of the cast members with clips on the opposite
side of the cast members (though clips of Mark Curry are shown on
both sides in his part of the sequence).

Reruns/syndication

In the United States, episodes of Hangin' with Mr.
Cooper (along with many other shows produced/distributed by
Warner Bros. Television) can currently be seen on AOL's In2TV
video-on-demand service.

The show went into off-network broadcast syndication (via Warner Bros.
Television Distribution) in the fall of 1997, where it lasted
until the fall of 2000 (airing until the fall of 1999 in some
markets). From July 7, 2008 to January 9, 2009, it aired on Ion Television as
part of the network's Laugh Attack hour of
African-American sitcoms, initially running from 5-6PM/ET, then
moved an hour later (switching timeslots with The
Steve Harvey Show) on August 4. Although the show lasted
101 episodes, a third of the show's episodes were unaired by ION
until September 15, 2008, when the third broadcast cycle began.

It has previously aired on cable network Spike
from 2000-2002, during the latter part of its TNN
years (known at that time as The National Network or "The New
TNN").